The Trouble With Insiders III: Captain Dragan

Either today or yesterday, Captain Dragan (Dragan Vasiljkovic) gave a stellar performance in the trial of Slobodan Milosevic before the International Criminal Tribunal for the Former Yugoslavia. Yesterday, he testified that he adopted a firm position that any Serb fighting in the Krajina had to be under the control of the Serbian State Security Service (SDB), the police or the Yugoslav People's Army (JNA). Today, under cross examination by Milosevic who addressed him as 'Kapetane' (Captain), he said he meant the Serbian Krajina Security Service, the Army of the Serbian Krajina and the Krajina police controlled by Milan Martic.

In an increasingly cordial exchange with Milosevic, he stated he had never been employed by the SDB and went to the Krajina on his own initiative to offer his assistance. He was the sole commander of the Golubic training center, appointed by Martic and Milan Babic, military and political heads of the Serb Krajina respectively. His friend Franko Simatovic, head of Special Operations in the Serbian Security Service (SDB), had nothing to do with it.

After testifying to his close working relationships with several SDB agents yesterday, today he claimed these were informal contacts, made without the knowledge of their bosses. The four SDB men (Franko Simatovic, Dragan Filipovic, Milan Radonjic and Jovica Stanisic) he named yesterday as having control in the Krajina, he described today as being the only SDB personnel ever to visit the Krajina when he was there, and then only for a few days merely to gather intelligence.

Yet yesterday he testified that he was ousted from the Krajina by Stanisic conveying an order 'from the top.' Vasiljkovic understood 'the top' to mean either the Serbian Minister of the Interior or the Serbian President, Slobodan Milosevic. Today he explained that when he said Stanisic 'relieved him of his duties,' it didn't mean Stanisic had appointed him. 'Even Patriarch Pavle could have relieved me.'

In a fascinating tour de force, Milosevic suggested that Babic was the one who expelled Vasiljkovic from the Krajina. As if a hero was being redeemed, Vasiljkovic responded, 'My feeling was that Babic was superior to you. If you'd had authority, both Frenki and I would have stayed on. . . . I thought Babic called you, you called Stanisic and he told me not to go [back to the Krajina].' MILOSEVIC: 'Could you draw the conclusion, precisely because of pressure over there, that no one ordered it, but Stanisic wanted to protect you from the conflict between Martic and Babic?' VASILJKOVIC: 'I didn't think of it along those lines, but there's a certain logic to it.'

The witness had already testified about his clashes with Babic, which Milosevic would have known about at the time they occurred. Milosevic continued spinning out the tale, suggesting that Babic wanted to denigrate Vasiljkovic who was a hero at a time when Babic was under criticism. By this time the cross examination had become more like a personal conversation. The Captain told Milosevic he'd really been bothered when there was a 180 degree turn in how he was treated after he defeated a significantly larger Croatian force at Glina. Where he expected a decoration, he was replaced instead. 'I couldn't imagine I wouldn't get your support and that of the JNA against Babic, so I blamed you. . . . ' He then expressed sympathy for Milosevic, saying he [Milosevic] couldn't win either way and he wouldn't like to be in his [Milosevic's] shoes. Probably for more reasons than he meant at the time.

The interplay between Milosevic and Vasiljkovic was like a soap opera in the making. One almost expected the sounds of trumpet and violin, as the son discovers his father really did love him and he had been done in by the evil uncle. Our metaphorical father and son spent a little while longer trashing Uncle Babic, before Milosevic asked Vasiljkovic to deny another part of the statement he'd given to OTP investigators.

The statement reads, 'In my opinion, the war effort [in Krajina] was financed by the Serbian government but I have no evidence.' The audience sat with bated breath wondering how the younger man was going to explain the statement in a way allowing him to stay in the older man's good graces. 'I don't remember saying this at all,' Vasiljkovic exclaimed, though he had to admit his initials were on the page, signifying that he had agreed with it at one time. Milosevic was willing to help him out with an attack on the OTP for putting questions in ways that distort reality. The witness continued to show surprise. 'I don't know how it found its way into my statement.' Milosevic solicitously replied, 'Captain, you're not the first witness who finds something in his statement he didn't wish to say.' In the end, Vasiljkovic was left with saying he was sorry he signed it; he wouldn't have said it; it was just a mistake and, in any event, 'his opinion' shouldn't count.

The witness responded to the remainder of Milosevic's cross examination in a similar vein: He had no evidence that Milosevic ever committed or was involved in any crime and if he had, he [Vasiljkovic] would have done everything in his power to have him [Milosevic] dismissed. Serbia never provided any financial support to the Krajina Serbs for their war effort. He considered the one million German marks contributed by Dafina Milanovic for military supplies and uniforms a private contribution. The videotape of the Red Berets' 1997 celebration, played in court and showing just about everyone who was anyone in the SDB, was not what it appeared to be. Frenki had merely usurped the name 'Red Beret' for a unit he was forming so that it might prove more attractive to young recruits and appear to have a heroic tradition. Similarly, Frenki's speech at the celebration intentionally exaggerated the size and influence of the Red Berets to impress the President. 'It must have created a great impression on you, Mr. President,' Vasiljkovic addressed the accused in court.

As the day's cross examination ended, Milosevic had not yet raised the 'directive from the top,' conveyed by two SDB agents, that Vasiljkovic should leave the country and disappear for five years. No doubt, the Captain is also looking forward to hearing Milosevic's alternative theory.

Tomorrow, the prosecution will have the opportunity to re-examine its witness and attempt to rehabilitate or explain his contradictory testimony. Regardless of what Vasiljkovic's final story is, Prosecutor Dermot Groome has a potential gold mine from records kept by Vasiljkovic's humanitarian organization, Captain Dragan's Fund. To qualify for funds, a veteran or his survivors are required to complete a form identifying their military unit, the nature of their physical disability, how, where and when obtained. The form must be accompanied by a certification from their commander at the time. The Fund has records on 67,000 individuals. Whatever Captain Dragan says about who did and did not fight in the Krajina under which military organization, the records will speak louder -- and they won't change their testimony depending on who's asking the questions.